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What did that mean? To me, I felt that I had some sort of a breakthrough since I was even having that type of a dream. Did this mean that I was almost to the point of telling Gary everything? I wanted to. I wanted so badly to just reach out to him and tell him everything. He needed to know.
I was doing so much harm by keeping this secret. And the longer I kept it, the harder it was going to be to reveal it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gary
I arrived in Columbus from the airport at ten in the morning. It was a decent flight, little bad air, a few good snacks, and I actually didn’t have anyone sitting beside me. It was great. I almost took a nap, but the flight was short enough and I was there in no time. I felt a bit strange about flying. It would have been a long drive, but a decent one if I’d decided to go that route. But with someone else footing the bill for the ticket, I was happy to fly.
I grabbed my carryon bag, stepped off the plain, and then hailed a cab to take me to the station. I would swing by my hotel and all of that stuff later. Today, I just wanted to tour the facility and get it over with. I’d done some thinking on the plane. There wasn’t that much else to do. And I’d decided that I was actually going to accept this job. Unless there was some really good reason not to, I was going to take it. I had to get out of Chicago. Just being away from the city on the plain had made me feel about ten years younger. It was the first time in a long time that I wasn’t feeling wore down by life. I was handling everything that was going on in my life with the greatest of ease, when it usually filled me with dread and anxiety. I’d even been dreading this trip at first, but as soon as the plane left the ground I felt free and like I was being given a new lease on life.
Now I’d landed and I was looking forward to meeting everyone at the station and seeing the place in action for myself. It was most likely a lot like my old crew and the working environment would be similar, except I’d be the big guy at the top making all the decisions. I had not yet decided what kind of authoritative style I was going to adopt, but I knew I would figure it out as I went along. Most of that depended on how the others would respond to me being in charge. If they all tried to push my buttons, then they were going to get the bad side of me. I would control and micromanage the shit out of everyone. That was the management style I hated, but if they demanded that then they would get it.
The cab pulled up to the fire station. I grabbed my bag and went inside. When I arrived, I was met by an attractive woman in uniform. She smiled at me as I came through the door, a bit too much I could see. That was interesting, but I ignored it. “Can I help you?” she asked. Her voice was sweet and bubbly.
“Yeah, I need to speak to the Chief,” I said. “My name is Gary Tenny.”
“Oh, ok,” she replied. “I’m Michelle. Right this way,” she said.
I followed her down a long hallway and around a corner to a big office to the right. The placard on the outside of the door read Chief Josephs. She knocked and a moment later the door opened. “Chief, there is a Gary Tenny here to see you.”
“Ah, great,” Josephs said.
Michelle motioned me to come on in and I followed. The office was small, but it was nice overall. It was a place I felt that I could get used to. I’d never had my own office before. I felt somehow special and distinguished to be a man who would soon have one. I could shut the world out and just be left alone with my thoughts as I got as much work done as I could muster. I knew the job was very high stress and the extra pay was not that much greater, especially for the job requirements. I would be responsible for an entire unit of people. That was a terrifying prospect, but I somehow recognized it as a good way to live life and spend my days. I wanted to give back and to help those who were new to the fold, coming up the ranks. This was a great way to do that. I felt like I belonged there right from the start.
Michele left then. She gave me the eye as she walked out, but I didn’t really pay her any attention. There was only one woman in the world for me and I still held onto the hope that one day I would in fact find her. I had become virtually immune to the charms of other women. I would never lose hope that I would one day find Shelly and hold her in my arms. I knew she loved me and that there had to be a special reason to do what she did. I just wished could get to the bottom of it.
“Gary! It’s an honor to meet you,” Josephs said. “Chief Walker speaks very highly of you.”
“Thank you very much. I really appreciate this opportunity.”
“Absolutely,” he said. “We found your resume online and then did a bit of checking before we finally called your station and spoke to your chief. Then he confirmed everything for us. The man sang you great praises. You should thank him.”
“I’ll be certain to do that,” I said.
“Well, let’s show you around the facility and introduce you to some of the crew,” he said.
I nodded and followed him out the door. The facility was more modern, newer, and much nicer than our own station. The place smelled better, too. It was like they had an outside cleaning crew working to keep everything in pristine condition. I loved that.
Everything just seemed to be much more official and professional looking. At our last station, mostly everything was pretty laid back and chill, which I liked, but now that I saw how nicely structured everything was here, I felt like I should have been here years ago.
“This is our break room,” Josephs said. I marveled at how much larger it was than our break room in Chicago. This place looked like a full-fledged cafeteria compared to that. The chairs were more comfortable looking, the place was nicely painted, and the television hanging on the wall was much larger. This was shaping up to be a most interesting trip.
Next we visited the weight room. The machines were much more numerous as well. The crew would not have to wait as long for machines and even free weights as we did with my crew. And all of the equipment looked so much newer. I was seriously impressed.
At last we came to the equipment room. Everything was clean and pristine looking, almost as if they focused so much on appearance that after every single fire or even after drills, they wanted to make sure that everything stayed orderly and showcased the utmost in professionalism. My old crew thought they were doing that same type of thing, but here I was seeing how this was really done and put into practice. I loved it. I instantly felt at home here. I was going to take this job. I was going to relocate and start over. This was what my life had been missing. I was stagnating in still water. I had to get going.
“Wow, that’s fantastic,” I said.
“I’m so glad you think so,” Josephs said. “You know, I’ve been Chief here for almost twenty-five years. It saddens me to let this go, but it is time for me to move on. I know I’ll be leaving it in good hands if you agree to come on board.”
I looked around the station and I felt the surge of pride coursing through me. This was where I wanted to be. I belonged here. I didn’t feel that I belonged in Chicago anymore. There were too many bad memories there. The past three years of bad memories. My life had been overshadowed by the pain I’d dealt with since Shelly left.
And now it was time to start over and move on from that pain.
“I would love to accept the offer,” I said.
Josephs smiled widely. “That’s fantastic,” he said. “Wow, that is great. I had a feeling you would. I just had that feeling. Let’s go to my office and have a drink to celebrate while you fill out some papers.”
